Manager leaves with Club at Top of the League & In
Tue Sep 29, 2026 8:23 am
The last 16 of the League Cup:
Manager Graham Alexander has left Bradford City to take over as manager of Championship club Preston North End.
Bradford even matched Preston’s wages etc
Departure Details
Date of Departure: September 28, 2026
New Destination: Preston North End (replacing sacked manager Paul Heckingbottom)
Staff Movement: Assistant manager Chris Lucketti also left Bradford City to join Alexander at Deepdale.
Bradford Top of league 1
Preston 2nd from Bottom of the Championship
Manager Graham Alexander has left Bradford City to take over as manager of Championship club Preston North End.
Bradford even matched Preston’s wages etc
Departure Details
Date of Departure: September 28, 2026
New Destination: Preston North End (replacing sacked manager Paul Heckingbottom)
Staff Movement: Assistant manager Chris Lucketti also left Bradford City to join Alexander at Deepdale.
Bradford Top of league 1
Preston 2nd from Bottom of the Championship
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Re: Manager leaves with Club at Top of the League & In
Tue Sep 29, 2026 8:26 am
Graham Alexander had played for Preston twice making 370 Appearances
Also had been their caretaker manager years ago
Also had been their caretaker manager years ago
Re: Manager leaves with Club at Top of the League & In
Tue Sep 29, 2026 10:45 am
In fairness to him he has a massive connection to Preston. Decent right back tbf
Re: Manager leaves with Club at Top of the League & In
Tue Sep 29, 2026 10:53 am
Past linked took him there I'm sure not the money as Bradford are a bigger club than Preston for me.
Re: Manager leaves with Club at Top of the League & In
Tue Sep 29, 2026 3:27 pm
Bluebird1977 wrote:Past linked took him there I'm sure not the money as Bradford are a bigger club than Preston for me.
It’s certainly an odd one!
Re: Manager leaves with Club at Top of the League & In
Tue Sep 29, 2026 11:13 pm
New Preston North End boss Graham Alexander has said he feels like he has come home.
The 54-year-old, who made 372 league appearances for the club across two spells as a player, left League One leaders Bradford City to succeed Paul Heckingbottom at Deepdale on Monday.
Alexander has taken over a North End side that are second from bottom in the Championship with six defeats from their opening eight league games.
"Yesterday was a bit surreal - it didn't feel real until I had the training kit on," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"When I got home last night, me and my wife had a bit of a moment about the journey we've had to get to this point."
Alexander retired as a player with Preston at the end of the 2011-12 season aged 40, having had a brief spell as caretaker at Deepdale during that campaign.
He turned down the option to start his coaching career in the club's academy and has subsequently managed Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford City, Motherwell and MK Dons.
When asked if Preston felt like home, he said: "It does yeah, it does.
"When I took the Motherwell job it was a big decision from my wife and myself to move to Scotland because we'd been so happy in Preston for 20 years but our kids were moving on.
"When we decided to move back to England, I gave my wife the choice of where she wanted to live because she'd been following me around for so long.
"The natural one was either the West Midlands, where we're both from and our families are from, or Preston and the north west area because of our relationships and how we felt here - and she chose to come back here, which I was hoping she would say.
"It's been a special place for us."
The 54-year-old, who made 372 league appearances for the club across two spells as a player, left League One leaders Bradford City to succeed Paul Heckingbottom at Deepdale on Monday.
Alexander has taken over a North End side that are second from bottom in the Championship with six defeats from their opening eight league games.
"Yesterday was a bit surreal - it didn't feel real until I had the training kit on," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"When I got home last night, me and my wife had a bit of a moment about the journey we've had to get to this point."
Alexander retired as a player with Preston at the end of the 2011-12 season aged 40, having had a brief spell as caretaker at Deepdale during that campaign.
He turned down the option to start his coaching career in the club's academy and has subsequently managed Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford City, Motherwell and MK Dons.
When asked if Preston felt like home, he said: "It does yeah, it does.
"When I took the Motherwell job it was a big decision from my wife and myself to move to Scotland because we'd been so happy in Preston for 20 years but our kids were moving on.
"When we decided to move back to England, I gave my wife the choice of where she wanted to live because she'd been following me around for so long.
"The natural one was either the West Midlands, where we're both from and our families are from, or Preston and the north west area because of our relationships and how we felt here - and she chose to come back here, which I was hoping she would say.
"It's been a special place for us."